[nabs-l] Bad news for blind and visually impaired people

[Bridgit Pollpeter]

Oh certainly - discrimination exist no doubt.  Race, religion,
ethnicity, disability, gender, sexual orientation- the list goes
on-and-on.  People continue to be ignorant, and discriminate on a daily
basis.  It is rampant and prevalent, and I don't believe this is a
controversial issue especially since those of us on this list
understand discrimination because we're blind.

My point was that once the law supported discriminatory ideas like
segregation.  It was legal to deny people of different racial and ethnic
backgrounds rights like education, service at restaurants, sitting on
the bus, employment- and so much more.  Eventually the law changed so it
has become more difficult for the law to support this kind of behavior.
The behavior still exist, but many laws now exist that no longer uphold
this type of behavior.

If a person who is black walks into a store and they are followed by an
employee, or they're point-blank told to leave, that person can file a
lawsuit against the store, but in 1950, the store had every right to
kick people out of their store just for the color of their skin.  This
was my point.  Hopefully, it will one day be illegal to create a website
or device without accessibility in mind.

Although, I do admit, the law can always reflect an agenda- it depends
on how you go about it.

Many of our laws still support discriminatory behavior like denying
marriage to gays, approving citizenship in a timely manner and of
course, providing independent ways to access information for people with
disabilities.  The list is much longer.

I will be controversial and agree that too many Americans are
judgmental, intolerant, prejudice and plain ignorant.  Even in my own
family it prevails.  My grandpa who still calls black people darkies, or
my parents who not only believe homosexuality is a "sin," but who think
you become gay by the influence of others- like it can rub off on you,
or my aunt who believes poor people are not capable of true
intelligence.  I've heard comments from people I know and strangers that
was pure prejudice and intolerance- it is disgusting.  Despite personal
feelings or religious beliefs, human beings all deserve respect and
kindness.  The same God created us all, and I don't think this god
enjoys to see any of his creation hurt, which by the way includes the
planet, but that's an entire discussion for another day.  For some
reason, humans have decided different means not equal.

Regardless of the law, people still exhibit prejudice and
discrimination.  This, sadly, will probably never change, but we can
push to change laws so at least in legal terms, we can fight
discrimination.

Sincerely,
Bridgit Kuenning-Pollpeter
Read my blog for Live Well Nebraska.com at
http://blogs.livewellnebraska.com/author/bpollpeter/


Message: 12
Date: Tue, 9 Aug 2011 23:37:43 -0400
From: wmodnl wmodnl <wmodnl at hotmail.com>
To: <nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Bad news for blind and visually impaired people
Message-ID: <BLU143-W11F322920209B11A7F52B1DC230 at phx.gbl>
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Can someone send me the original ruling post or link to the actual case?
Thank you.  
PS. Discrimination in America still prevails regardless of anyone?s
views.  People are still denied fair treatment based upon looks,
appearances, and other personal assumptions.  I would not say that the
blind are discriminated against and other groups are not.  Take a look
at what is happening politically.  If the president was as powerful as
the last one, there would be no tea party and obvious pushback from
other groups.  I do not like to discuss these controversial issues;
however, America and Americans are not as united and educated as some
may believe.  We are trailing the world since our culture is still so
judgmental and ignorant.